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Is it just me or is anyone else glad to see the jogger footprints so this can't be labeled a 'damn bikers' event?

Brushy Creek is my main trail. So it gets boring videoing the same things. I dont have much time to stop and video bc I wanna ride. But i still like to put stuff together bc it's fun. I need to take more still video and maybe talk about the features. Hope at a least someone enjoys besides myself.

Obviously he was running flats Seth,, if he was clipped in that would never happen

But considering that their bottom bracket on the takeoff I am going with the fact that there is 0 momentum to be had here.

IIRC, the rules clearly state that no more than three new parts can be added/assembled per week to restrict the natural rain reaction to only being raised to an overcast/cloudy condition. No more than one new part per any 24 hour period can be added. Any previously used part may be added at will with no effect, unless it has been restored/painted/refurbished to a "like new" condition, then it will count as half a new part towards the rain reaction index for that rider. There are some allowances for starting a screw or bolt, but not tightening it, and, for holding a part in place to measure or inspect fit will not contribute to precipitation unless photographed and/or viewed by more than three riders.

I’m with stupid! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

trail work, daughter-led yoga nightly, mtb, swimming in Lake Travis, coaching volleyball, gymnastics spotter, lots of marital relations.

KOE more like it!

Fact: dirt contains bacteria that makes humans (and mice) feel good. The original research comes from mice exposed to Mycobacterium vaccae, a friendly soil bacteria. The impetus for this research came from beneficial results for cancer patients treated with Mycobacterium vaccae. Soil Bacteria Work In Similar Way To Antidepressants Snip from this very interesting article: Riding bike to Hyde Park Gym to work out today.

I've done a 50 mile trail race and it was an experience that I will never forget. My suggestion would be to find a race on a trail that you enjoy and don't be afraid to travel. When you're deep in the pain cave, having amazing views burned into your head will be worth the trip to get there. Your body only has so many of those type of efforts in it so make them count. My wife has done a 100 mile race and several ultras. She works at Austin Trail Running company and if you have any questions or want to talk to some people that know what you're getting into, swing by there and hit them up.

You need to work on your Bikerfox Hop.

I would not expect an endo from that picture. If they have any forward momentum at all they should land on the ramp, not on the lip. A few years ago I was endo'ing at least once per ride. I had a bike fit and they lowered my seat almost an inch. I quit endo'ing. Than about a year later I started endo'ing again. I thought someone had raised my seat as a joke. That was not the problem. Eventually figured out my forks were leaking. I started checking the air pressure before a ride. No more endo's. (Replaced the fork seals a week later.)

i think you need a new bike

I hate the invasive species but I have to give them credit for being the superior survivor. They out compete the native plants and we kill them for their success. Poetic justice. I was up in Seattle this summer and the locals were complaining about the ‘non-native’ orca pods. Apparently they were thriving while the native pods were dying because the natives couldn’t figure out how to eat anything but salmon. I was stoked to see a killer whale and didn’t care. Some people are stoked to see a tree instead of concrete so they don’t get why we want to kill invasive species. Strange world. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There are several reasons to girdle instead of cut them down. First, girdling kills the whole tree including the roots. Second, The ligustrum dies slowly so there is time for other trees to fill in. If it is just cut down, it leaves a hole in the canopy. Third, It is SSSSOOOOO much easier that cutting it down and then digging up the roots. It takes me about a minute a stem to girdle a ligustrum. Once it is dead or nearly dead, I can push them over by hand and the remaining roots come up. There are some tricks to making it work. The cut(s) has to be deep enough and wide enough or it just heals over. Large stems (>3") are likely to need two or three times to kill the tree. It amazes me that the stuff we want to kill is so hardy it has to be girdled repeatedly. But the stuff we want to keep is so fragile that we cannot walk or ride too close to it or we will damage its Critical Root Zone.

digging is my secondary form of exercise. its basically an outside, free, dirty-ass version of crossfit!

I hope some of you have enjoyed riding the tails at Pace Bend. However, those trails were originally built for these 3 ladies here. When I started on PB, the youngest daughter wasn’t even born yet. All 3 of them have built trail and supported me from the beginning. Saturday was the first time that all 4 of us pedaled our own bikes on legit trail at PB. We’ve done trailers, racks, backpacks, hikes, trail work, camping, and everything else at PB, but Saturday was a first. Thank you to everyone that helped build my family a place to ride near our house! You know who you are.

DO IT NOW! Enough already of all the new bike purchases - we need sunshine!!!

Be careful though - while routine maintenance has an immeasurable effect, repairs certainly have a marked effect. The amplitude of the effect is directly related to the rideability of the bike before and after the repair. Replacing a worn grip might bring a couple of clouds, replacing a non-functioning drivetrain however, can have a similar effect to a new bike - especially given the delicate rain situation we find ourselves in these days. Climate change is real - and it's caused by mtn bikers.

Ride now. Trails are incredible.

Got a new handlebar and stem so I might be responsible for a good misting or fog. Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

lol This isn't a "What am I doing wrong?" kind of thread. Just a fun thread to take a moment to laugh about things. Here's something that is a bit laughable. I FINALLY decided to upgrade my ride. This "new" bike I recently picked up (2014 Pivot 429 Carbon) replaces my 2001 Trek Fuel 80. As you can imagine, EVERYTHING is different. So I'm in process of refining a few of my very "old school" skills. One of the biggest adjustments has been getting used to disc brakes! I know, right? lol This bike is friggin' phenomenal! After the first ride I felt the need to cut down the bars just a tad and go to different grips. After the second ride I determined that lower gearing was in order - it came with a 1x10 32/36 setup. I dropped the front to a 30, which is better but still need a little more. Installing a 42T cassette this evening. With that change I think I'll have it setup just right. 🙂

Its more likely due to tire selection. There is no way he would have endoed even once with the perfect tire setup.

Anyone can tell just by looking at the tracks how the jogger was being chased by the evil bicyclists, then was forced off the path before meeting their demise at the hands of those wheeled hooligans.

It's not bad, really, there's singletrack all along 1826, north and south of the Slaugher Creek Trail entrance. The only sketchy bit is right before the SCT entrance heading south. There's a culvert that yesterday was full of water, with no way around it but to ride briefly on the road. We just waited for a clearing in traffic and jumped onto the road over to the SCT entrance.

To date, those studying the relationship between rain and new bike/gear purchases have found that routine maintenance has an immeasurable effect on this phenomenon. You may sleep easier than those with new bikes and gear who are most responsible for the plague of rain that has besmirched our trails. 👍

It was good and I did have fun! Plus my lackluster training did help. Unfortunately 3 weeks before my whole household got the stomach flu that was going around and any training took a backseat until the weekend before the event. Before this, based on my progress I was hoping for a 2:45 time but after the setback in training set a goal of under 3 hours. In the end I achieved a 2:55 and went home happy. I'm glad I did it, the medal/belt buckle is pretty sweet but I don't see me doing any other long distance runs. I will however try a local 5K or two. I definitely have seen a benefit to my overall health and biking stamina because of my 2-4 mile training runs.

How was it? Will you try a full or something else? I've done one half (3M) and was a bit slower than expected. I have no inclination to do that again or a full marathon, but strangely the ultra marathons have a calling to me. Keeping an eye on the running version of the Dragon Slayer...

Looking at the bottom of the wheel in relation to the height of the lip I will say pretty good likelyhood. Physics man...physics Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Yeh, my first thought was about that BB.

Bingo!

So it's true. You do always remember your first.

Damn foreign trees coming in and taking jobs from God fearing local trees. Sure they killed off all the native grasses first, but this is ‘merica dammit! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Wait a minute! If that was a jogger, they're definitely minimalist. Maybe a baby bigfoot going in circles?

That can't be true. My buddy Huck Finn told me whitewashing fences was the most fun I'd ever have in my whole life.

Especially if you have a rotator cuff issue!!!

We will get the homeless to build the wall and pay for it. 😉

Can't we just build a wall to keep Ligustrum out?

Chardog posted an interesting article on mojo a while back. They just regrow if you cut them. Girdling starves them and they actually die. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Probably from welding. He's high dollar....

I started making a photo map of some of the features out there, and I'd be up for adding more if someone wants to give me the tour sometime. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nuDfPC-N8k8VoMdUhy74_GDUgUo&usp=sharing

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This thread strikes a chord with me, especially lately. Starting on BMX/freestyle in the 80's, then moving to mtb in '88, I've had the luxury of experiencing all of the riding disciplines, trends, fads, tech, etc; all of "the emporer's new clothes"... I've also become very tuned to my own "style" and riding preferences over that time. I'm always open to trying new things (within reason, some things are clearly gimmicks or just aren't aimed at me); some I adopt, some don't make it beyond a test ride. In my earlier years, I preferred bikes to be as playful as possible, as I was like a pinball, bouncing from side to side down a trail, turning every hump, log, root etc into a feature, bunnyhopping "all the things", etc, so as a result, I trended toward smaller frames, usually a size or two "too small" for me (at 5-10 I've owned several 16" frames). I liked things simple and easy, and I steered away from suspension for a long time because I felt it dulled the ride, input and feedback. Little by little though, my frames grew, suspension travel got longer, and I got sucked into the wormhole of complexity and tuning, as well as the LLS trend... FWIW, I also rode dirt bikes during much of this time... Long, Low, Slack... One thing that has changed for me over the years is free time and physical condition; it has shown me what I enjoy most in a ride, which is descending and tech. I'd rather not be bothered with too much pointless pedaling, other than what is needed to reach the beginning of a fun descent (although if I do have to climb, I prefer it to be technical). I don't care about comfort or efficiency on the climb, as long as I make it to the top. For pure descending speed, I've found the longer, lower, and slacker I go, the "better", but speed is only a small part of what I enjoyed, and I only spend a few days a year on extended, fast downhills, the rest was making the most of trails around here. Longer bikes, while stable at speed, tend to feel like a handful; the longer they are (combined with low and slack), the more they fight your input (the same trait that makes them stable at speed), are pigs in tight turns and maneuvers, and they exaggerate the low bottom brackets that tend to come with them with pedal strikes and gouged chains (if you like ledges and rock gardens, like me). Likewise, slack head angles also add to the stability, make the steeps less puckering and soften input mistakes... however, it also increases your wheelbase which, combined with "long and low", makes slower, tighter, technical trails even more of a challenge... The low BB adds to stability as well, and low COG makes cornering at speed more fun, but things like wheelies, manuals and bunnyhops require more energy and input. Another new trend is steep seat tube angles; while many claim to love it, I hated it, so much so that I sold what I thought was my dream frame (Nukeproof Mega) in only 8 months of owning it. The climbing advantage was minimal, and I didn't like the seat location in relation to the BB while standing; it always felt in the way, whether up or down, and I found myself dropping the seat more often. So, for my personal preferences and the riding I do most, I've backed off the LLS trend a little, and settled on a medium (17-18") frame, long-ish, low-ish, but still pretty slack (at 5-10, I like 425-430mm stays, 435-445 reach, 64.5-66* HA ("effective"/sagged for a hardtail), and BB drop depends on a few factors. With this reach range, I'll run a 32-45mm stem and 780-790 bars. I've found this geo mild/small enough at my height to be maneuverable, fun and "poppy" enough around here, while still being a blast when I head to the mountains and bike parks. Simplicity vs... not Now I'm finding myself at a stage in life where I'm craving a reset; I miss the days of simplicity, when the ride mattered more than what I rode, and I find myself frustrated with constantly having to mess with shocks, linkage, tuning, hydraulics, maintenance, repair, etc... I'm tired of playing musical frames/musical shocks, getting the tuning right, etc, and am finding that I enjoy my smaller, all-mountain SS hardtail (although it isn't a SS at the moment) with BB7 mech brakes more and more, and I'm even considering switching to BB7s on my 6" FS (gasp, I know). The HT is always ready to go, always right, never a headache, and in many ways, more fun... I manipulate the trail more, I have to work to keep things smooth and graceful, and while this does require more effort and energy, it's also what makes riding fun, as I'm more involved in the ride as opposed to plowing over everything in a straight line, letting the suspension to all the work. This epiphany has recently come to a head, and I'm currently working on a new experiment: a custom steel hardtail, taking what I love most about both of my bikes, and merging it into a simple, low maintenance, do-it-all hardtail that I can ride more than I wrench...

Yeah, yoga is a good idea. Any stretching is a net positive.

Have you thought about using a standing desk for work? Fortunately my job has me on my feet 8 hours a day but my brother in law started to notice that being sedentary was causing him major issues. He converted his desk to a standing desk and I noticed a difference in his physical appearance within 6 months. Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

#MeToo

Not sure if anybody else has done this or considered it, but for the cost of a nice bike, I converted an extra bedroom into a gym. It has been life changing for me. My only regret is not doing it earlier in life when the ROI would have been much greater for me. Instead, I had been paying membership fees at various gyms for essentially my entire adult life. Now I work out at home most mornings without leaving the house or worrying about crowds or sweaty equipment or annoying grunts. Some people would argue that a single multi-function unit like this isn't enough, but as somebody who has been weight lifting for 40 years using free weights, smith machines, and everything else available, I can say with certainty that I can get just as good of a workout at home with this one machine. The key is having a high, mid, and low pulley system with all the needed attachments. So for example I do my deadlifts on the low pulley using the same attachment that I use for curls. I use the mid pulley for abdominal crunches but also to attach a strap or rope and do trunk rotations. Also with this particular machine, the swingarm has a set of independent, free-moving grip bars that emulate free-weight movements. I usually work chest, shoulders, and triceps one day and then legs, back, and biceps the next, with abdominal and core work mixed in everyday. Sometimes though I'll do supersets, where I'm combining all body parts into a single workout alternating between opposing muscle groups. None of my workouts exceed 30 minutes, and I take 1 or 2 days off per week from working out. Also, if I'm riding a lot, I'll sometimes skip legs. I suspect that many of the MTB riders you see on the Podiums have never done any form of weight training, and I'm certainly not purporting that it's necessary to be a strong biker. What I do know though is that as we age our metabolism slows, and maintaining lean muscle mass is the single best way to boost metabolism. Up until my mid-forties as a very active adult, I ate anything I wanted to and never worried about weight. In fact I never saw the north side of 175lbs until I was nearing 50. Since then though I have regularly bumped up against 200lbs despite remaining very active. The only way I've managed to keep weight off without dieting (which I don't ever want to do), is to make sure that the majority of my calories are fueling muscle growth and metabolism. Easier said than done at 60, but it definitely works. It's also a great way to protect your joints as you age. The bigger and stronger your muscles are, the better protected your skeleton is. We do have to be careful though as we age because our tendons become more rigid. Using lower weight, higher reps, and sometimes limiting range of motion has helped me in that regard.

I get up off the couch to get another drink from the fridge several times each evening. It sometimes makes the wife cross with me when I pause the show. Does that count as "cross" training?

I run SATN trails off and on. sometimes I don't feel like fooling around with bike gear. lace up shoes, grab a water bottle, and go. I have a CX bike that gets ridden on gravel races and around the city, especially when it's wet outside. it's gotten a lot of miles these past few weeks! my office has a gym that I visit for about 30 minutes most days. I suffered lower back pain about a year ago and found that core work like planks, russian twists, lunges, squats, bridges, etc help a TON to stabilize your body. that makes you a better rider all around and helps with endurance, not to mention mitigates back pain.